Its a smart thing, IMO. To rapidly expand their charging infrastructure, EA needs free cash flow. The quickest way to generate cash is to sell something, stake in the company in this case.
This is correct. EV charging infrastructure is classic "you gotta spend money to make money." If they don't build out the EV charging stations, someone else will. They'll also want to have the cash on hand to be able to quickly jump into any private-public partnerships that may arise from any infrastructure deal that could come out of this administration.
It's simple, they have spent the $2 billion required by their legal settlement. Due to the micromanaging nature of the settlement they were not able to spend the money to make a nationwide highway charging network. They need more money to do so and VW's cash is tied up in increasing production. It is the way almost every major company expands.
It will be interesting to see if Ford will take a stake here.
As it happens I supervised several State Rest Area renovations, expansions, and in one case full construction. Most of these rest areas and Welcome Centers are located far from any amenities other than chip and soda machines and of course restrooms. There are often laws that say that they can't allow private businesses to set up on public property. Power and communications lines are often run many miles which is also why many of them have their own wells and sewage treatment plants. So upgrading the internet lines and powerlines is not a trivial matter. That said in 2014 there was talk about setting up power so semi trucks wouldn't have to idle for AC while the drivers were sleeping. As I recall the project went nowhere probably because of the location and $$$.
Yeah, I know there is a federal law that keeps companies from setting up businesses, but that doesn't mean that the feds couldn't foot the bill for the electrical work and then have the companies do the last mile stuff. I know that federal workers aren't the ones refilling the vending machines, haha.
Done by annual bid contract and it's a Thunderdome match just like yard maintenance. If they were to fund it, the job might be worth coming out of retirement if they would bond me and give me limited immunity from lawsuit. You cannot BELIEVE the stupid ways that tourist hurt themselves if within a mile of a construction zone. Actually it doesn't need to be a construction zone. Then there is the vandalism, unbelievable amounts of it, and the illegal activity in the less patrolled areas. Obviously I have many examples that I won't go into.
www.eenews.net
I've seen this kind of "VW's hands are tied" thing come up about Electrify America again and again, but it's just not true. There's nothing in the consent decree that prevents them from building out a nationwide highway network. In fact, these ZEV investment decisions are entirely up to Volkswagen/EA. Appendix C of the decree lays out four allowed categories of investment (one of which applies only in California). The plan must involve investment in two of them (infrastructure and outreach/education), but beyond that it's all up to VW. Section 2.1 is quite explicit about it:
EPA/CARB don't have any sort of veto power over VW's plan. Their oversight just consists of verifying that VW has submitted their plans on time and spent enough "creditable costs" on schedule.
That $275 million was all outside of California (as was the $205 million for community charging). In California, an additional $75 million was spent on highway fast charging in Cycle 1 and $65-85 million in Cycle 2. The Cycle 3 Plan is already out for California and it includes another $15-25 million for highway & regional routes.
